Recently, I was lucky enough to be awarded Best Horror Short Story for "Baby's Breath" in the 2014 P&E Readers' Poll. I'm so grateful for everyone who took the time to read the story and vote for me, and especially appreciative for those of you who took the time to leave feedback. It meant a great deal. This award means a great deal.

Yesterday I found out that "Baby's Breath" also made the 2014 Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot in the category for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. What an honor. Just last month I upgraded from Affiliate to Active Status in the HWA, and feel truly blessed to be part of such a talented, gracious community of writers, artists, and professionals in the horror industry.

I mentioned recently on Facebook that "Baby's Breath" carried a substantial amount of personal significance to me for a few reasons. In a nutshell, it's a tribute to someone I never met, but have learned to love through the eyes of another. I've come to know this woman from someone who has become a stronger person for all of her weaknesses and the tragedies she faced throughout her short, sad, and pained life. And despite her weaknesses, she also had many strengths.

That said, the Diane in my story is not the same Diane about whom I am speaking. Though based on some fact, I took her story to the extreme--as we often do in horror--and in my own way, sought some vindication for her that she was unable to find on her own.

In addition to basing this story on the real-life story of someone else, an astute friend pointed out that a lot of "Baby's Breath" seems to be an unveiling of some of the emotional, physical, and psychological horrors I faced in the many years following the accident which retired me from teaching at 36 years of age. That friend was right.

There's quite a bit of symbolism in "Baby's Breath" that dwells beneath the uncomfortable, unpleasant, and often unbearable surface of the narrative. Those years following my accident were long, lonely, and excruciating--and coming to terms with the grief of losing a career I had worked and fought so hard to secure was not easy. I had a lot of support from my family and friends, and can't imagine what it must be like for someone to endure such an ordeal without that--so relatively speaking, I always tried to consider myself extremely lucky.

Writing the story was hard. It was only the second I wrote start to finish after emerging from the black hole into which I had fallen after the accident. Years of pain, post-concussive symptoms, surgeries, fighting the nightmare that is worker's compensation, depression . . . there was a time I never thought I would read again, let alone write. Diane's descent into madness, insecurity, paranoia, and reclusivity was likely an exaggerated depiction of what I experienced during that time, though while writing it I'm not altogether sure I was aware of this. I think it takes a step back--or even someone else pointing it out after the fact--to recognize something like this happening in our writing.

Do you ever find yourself unintentionally writing about your own experiences in your work? Writing yourself into your characters?

Like King said, "Fiction is the truth inside the lie."

My "write nights" with Tracy were instrumental in my recovery--as both a functioning human being and writer. I wrote the first paragraph of "Baby's Breath" and had it published as a hundred word piece called "Transference" on Hellnotesin January of last year, and at the prodding of Ann K. Boyer, another good friend, fleshed it out into a short story for the BUGS anthology.

Simon Rumley's praise for "Baby's Breath" in the Foreword did more for me than I can describe in words. But I will say that reading what he said about my work was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments I will never forget. I'd be remiss not to thank the great Daniel Knauf for his invaluable support both as a friend and professional, as well.

And to all of you who have offered help and assistance along the way--be it through friendship or support of this story and/or other work--thank you. You can't possibly know how much it means to me.

My first "professional" experience assimilating back into the industry was negative and unpleasant to say the least, and if it weren't for the kindness and actual professionalism so many of you showed to outweigh that, it would have been easy to just give up.

But if an accident like the one I had can't keep me down, and cancer can't beat me, one bad apple in the barrel sure isn't going to make me toss the whole thing out. It just makes me appreciate the goodness of the others that much more.

These are some of the kind things readers and peers have said about it:

“The narrator's slow unhinging is perfectly paced and the author pushes against the border of the grotesque just enough to make the story as viscerally disturbing as it is psychologically unsettling . . . A supremely skilled tale of the decomposition of a relationship and the horrifying consequences of failed parenthood.”

“I was in pain the entire time I read this story. A fantastic piece of horror that burrows deep into the psyche as well as the skin.”

“exquisitely grotesque”

“A visceral story that gets right under your skin.”

“The writing is tight and spare . . . The non-sequential narrative is handled effectively, allowing the story to open with a strong hook before rewinding to fill in the details of the germinating horror.”

“engrossing from the first page until the last, and deliciously horrific throughout.”

“short, sharp, emotional and uncomfortable”

“An exquisitely dreadful story.”

“The most chilling short I read all year.”

Of course I am *beyond* thrilled that both "Dandelion Clocks" and Inkblots and Blood Spotsappear on the ballot, as well. We at Villipede are very proud of that collection and honored to be representing Michael Bailey's stellar work. I simply can't say enough about the collection, except that I believe with every fiber of my being that it fully deserves to be on the ballot. You've all heard me rave about it for some time now, and I am pleased to see it among such fine company in its category.

As far as "Dandelion Clocks" goes, well . . . Michael seems surprised it made it through, but I'm not. Again, he's in really good company! But I fell head over heels in love with that novelette and think he deserves a place on the ballot as much as anybody. And the fact that Douglas E. Winter guest-edited that piece makes it even more special to me.

Huge congratulations to everyone on this list. I am so incredibly honored to be included in such company!

Voting for works on the Preliminary Ballot will take place between February 1st and 15th, and the Final Ballot will be announced on February 23rd. Anyone who appears on the Final Ballot will be a Bram Stoker Nominated Author or Artist.

Voting HWA Members: For copies of "Baby's Breath," "Dandelion Clocks," or Inkblots and Blood Spots, feel free to shoot me an email or PM via my contact page. They are also available to download on the HWA Forum.

The lucky winners of the Bram Stoker Awards will be announced on May 9th at the awards ceremony during the 2015 World Horror Convention in Atlanta.

The cover and interior illustrations were designed by British Fantasy Award-winning artist Daniele Serra, an absolute genius who also happens to be one of the loveliest human beings in the universe. His work is dark, beautiful, and a perfect match for Michael's writing.

To boot, Douglas E. Winter provided the introduction while on business travel in Reykjavik, Iceland. As an editor, Doug has been a hero of mine since I picked up Prime Evil as a fifteen year old kid and fell in love with my first horror anthology. I still have it today...I keep it within reach, and look at it often. The proof of the book looks absolutely beautiful. Here's a gallery of thumbnail images . . . see for yourself.

Fans of Michael's may already be familiar with some of the pieces; favorites among readers are "I Wanted Black," which is very King-esque and shows off Bailey's skills in the art of crafting extremely short fiction; "Fireman / Primal Tongue," the Fahrenheit 451-inspired piece which includes a passage from the novel and earned Michael both a Stoker nomination and an honorable mention on Ellen Datlow's Year's Best Horror list; "Underwater Ferris Wheel," a surreal and emotive piece which switches points of view and flawlessly borders on the verge of being terrifying at every turn; "Not the Child," a tale of faeries unlike any you've ever read; and "Bootstrap / The Binds of Lasolastica," which originally appeared in the hugely popular Zippered Flesh anthology from Smart Rhino Publications.

Almost all of the poetry is new—as is "Dandelion Clocks," a novelette inspired by the tragedy of 9/11. It's a lyrical, mind-bending, heart-wrenching piece which Daniele illustrated with an absolutely gorgeous double page spread, and is also on the reading list for consideration in this year's Bram Stoker Long Fiction Award category.

The work in Inkblots and Blood Spotshas been carefully arranged so that it's woven together with characters, settings, themes, rhythms, and voices that all connect and flow into the telling of one longer tale throughout.

The full TABLE OF CONTENTS is as follows:

POETRY

Beneath Clouds AliveThe Two of You Bogey Sticks and Bones Void Simon the Parasite Ink Listen To MeAll but the Things that Cannot be Torn TwistedSecret Smile Open AurasThough it Rains Countdown to Null Not RespondingWhisper Dance

"Michael Bailey continues to amaze. He is on track to becoming his generation's Ray Bradbury."

—F. Paul Wilson

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“Inkblots and Blood Spotsis a smart collection of stories that evoke real fear, because they're grounded in emotional truth. Michael Bailey has that rare ability to terrify readers and break their hearts—often in the same paragraph." —Norman Prentiss, Bram Stoker Award winner, author of Invisible Fences~

"Artfully executed. A unique and powerful contribution to speculative literature."

—Tim Deal, Shroud Quarterly

~"With Inkblots and Blood Spots, Michael Bailey delivers the kind of startlingly original, beautifully imagined, and deeply affecting stories that linger long in the mind, and even longer in the psyche."—B.E. Scully, author of the critically acclaimed novel Verland: The Transformation and the upcoming novella The Eye That Blinds

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“The stories and poems in Inkblots and Blood Spots bleed into our souls like knives and leave us breathless. Michael Bailey is a fabulous writer, unique and fresh—and these stories are his best. Inkblots and Blood Spots has my highest recommendation. You don’t want to miss this one . . . go buy this book. Now.”

“Most writers are either stylists or story-tellers. The stylists tend to be more common in literary fiction, the storytellers more common in genre work. Michael Bailey’s prose is highly accessible, but very precise . . . he's a stylist, his prose very clean. Michael is indeed a very literate storyteller.His stories are always darkly sharp-edged in tone, texture, and delivery, easily appropriate for genre fiction. But perhaps most important, his stories are about something . . . each one is built on a meaningful, engaging, intellectual premise.I highly recommend this short story collection, which includes some compelling and delightful poetry.”

—Gene O'Neill, The Cal Wild Chronicles

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“I first encountered Michael Bailey’s work at the Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp. His writing stood out immediately—vibrant, bold, and bursting with original concepts. He showed me he was a writer willing to bypass all the familiar territories and stake out a new narrative landscape all his own. With this collection of dynamic stories and poems, he will show you as well.”—Thomas F. Monteleone

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“This collection of captivating stories and poems is both haunting and poignant. Filled with love and loss, the weight of these resolutions echoes out into the darkness with a heartbreaking permanence.”—Richard Thomas, author of Disintegration

Author & Editor

﻿Sydney Leigh is the evil literary double of a mostly sane writer, editor, photographer, artist, English teacher, and native of the North Shore. Her poetry, short fiction, and reviews have appeared in numerous publications.

Her best friend is a Border Collie, and despite holding degrees in English, Psychology, and Graphic Design, she spends most of her free time doing her teenage son’s laundry and playing rock-paper-scissors with her imaginary roommate, Ted.